Furniture suspended from ropes

ABSTRACT

Sitting or reclining furniture with an upper and a lower part that can move relative to each other. The upper part is suspended so as to be able to oscillate on the lower part and at least two sets of ropes are arranged functionally in series. One set of ropes is suspended by way of bridge pieces and an approximately gallows-like frame. The bridge pieces are, in turn, joined to each other through the frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to furniture for sitting or reclining.

There have already been a number of attempts made to replace sitting andreclining furniture, which up to now has been static, with dynamicfurniture.

Rocking chairs have been known for a very long time; these incorporate adynamic component, unlike other conventional chairs. The same applies tocradles, which have also been known for a very long time; these areparticularly well-liked by children on account of their dynamiccharacter and, in addition, promote sleep because of thischaracteristic.

Recently, the water bed has appeared on the market as a modern versionof a dynamic bed. However, the water bed entails considerabledisadvantages in that it takes up a relatively large amount of space,reacts very slowly to movement, is very heavy, and extremely costly. Inaddition, if the water leaks out, it can cause considerable damage. Inaddition, the water bed does not provide any continuous up and downmovement and cannot provide a constantly even horizontal surface.

CH-PS No. 242 273 describes a seat that is supported on a hinged supportand which is in steady equilibrium, from which position it can bedeflected to a greater or lesser degree when loaded.

DE-GM 1 708 191 describes a seat that is installed on a rocking framethat can be locked if required. Such a rocking frame is not suitable foruse in a bedroom or living room, however.

GB-PS No. 696 239 describes a rocking chair that can be move back andforth to a certain extent by a hinge system. Because of the frictionthat is generated at the hinge points, however, it requires a notinconsiderable amount of force to move it. Any sort of post-oscillationis precluded for all practical purposes.

DE-GM No. 8 222 691 describes a suspension that uses ropes, in whichonly a negligible amount of damping of the oscillatory movement takesplace. In this known solution, however, there is only one characteristicfrequency of the oscillating system, this resulting from the oscillatingmass and the length of the ropes.

DE-PS No. 3 506 377, which constitutes a special category, describesoscillating, suspended sitting or reclining furniture; this incorporatesa plurality of ropes that are connected functionally in series and areof different lengths and which therefore have different, adjacentcharacteristic frequencies.

It is the task of the present invention to create dynamic sitting orreclining furniture that even in the case of small impulses provides foralmost undamped movement of not inconsiderable amplitude.

The solution entails the considerable advantage that even small impulseslead to relatively large oscillatory movements. The desired effect isenhanced thereby.

The present invention is described in greater detail below on the basisof an embodiment shown in the drawings appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPITON OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a rope suspension;

FIG. 2 is a rope system as in FIG. 1 with bevelled fittings that enclosethe ropes;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rope system with an adjusting disk;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a rope system with an adjusting disk.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view on a smaller scale showing the furniture;and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an alternate embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, a total of four ropes 11, 11a are arranged in a housing 10that in the embodiment shown is shaped like a truncated pyramid andstands on a solid base, for example, a floor, arranged in pairs, theseropes support a freely suspended bridge piece 12 and together with thisbridge piece they form a trapezoid in such a manner that a right angleis formed as shown in FIG. 1 or an acute or an obtuse trapezoidal angleis formed as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 1 shows the unswung position of theropes. In FIG. 6, the unswung position is shown in solid lines and aswung position is shown in broken lines. In a mirror image to thearrangement of ropes 11 and bridge piece 12 there are additional ropes11a with an associated bridge piece arranged within the housing 10, andin combination these form a second trapezium with the same trapezoidalangle. The two trapeziums 11, 12 or 11a respectively are connectedrigidly with each other through an essentially gallows-like frame 13that can also be in the shape of a trapezium. On the upper cross-beam 14of the gallows-like frame 13 there is at least one additional rope 15that supports a support 16 of the movable upper part of the sitting orreclining furniture 16a (FIG. 5) at its lower end. When the twotrapeziums 11, 12 or 11a, respectively, make an oscillating movement inthe direction indicated by the arrow 17, as shown in FIG. 6 the bridgepiece 12 simultaneously makes a slight clockwise tilting movementthereby raising the foot 18 of the frame 13. Since the frame 13, whichis also connected to the bridge-piece 12 simultaneously makes a smallclockwise tilting movement, the height differential between the foot 18and the suspension point 19 for the rope 15 on the frame 13 is reducedas can be seen by comparing "L" and "h" in FIG. 6. Thus, the height ofthe support 16 that is suspended on the rope 15 changes very slightly.This results in greater oscillation amplitudes, which is most desirablein the present case.

Pendulum systems with various characteristic frequencies can be producedby various lengths of the ropes 11 or 11a, on the one hand, and 15 onthe other.

FIG. 2 shows a frame 10 with the ropes 11, a gallows-like frame 13 and arope 15 in cross-section in the direction of the support 16. In FIG. 2,the individual ropes 11 or 15, respectively, are surrounded by bevelledfittings 21, the inside, unobstructed cross-sections of which tapertowards the bottom. The unobstructed cross-sections can be of eithercircular or oval cross-section. With a circular cross-section, thebehavior is the same in all directions, but with an oval cross-sectionthe behaviour in the direction of the longitudinal axis is different tothe behaviour in the direction of the transverse axis. Depending onwhether the same or different behavior is desired in all directions, oneor the other unobstructed cross-section of the bevelled fitting 21 canbe selected. At amplitudes that exceed a certain magnitude, the ropes 11or 15 are adjacent to the unobstructed cross-section of the bevelledfitting 21 up to a specific level and thus reduce the effective lengthof the rope and thus the characteristic frequency of the rope 11 or 15,respectively, such that a further increase of the amplitude is avoided,this being done gently and without any jarring.

In the pendulum system that is shown in plan view in FIG. 3, the uppercover plate 22 of the frame 10 incorporates slots 23 that extendradially in the direction of a common center point 24. On the coverplate 22 there is a disk 25 that rotates about the center point 24 andincorporates essentially spiral slots 26. The ropes 11 are so suspendedby suspension points 27, which can also be shaped as nuts, that theypass through both the radial slots 23 of the cover plate 22 of the frame10 and through the essentially spiral slots 26 in the disk 25 that canrotate about the center point 24. When the disk 25 is moved in thedirection indicated by the arrow 28, the upper suspension points for theropes 11 move in the direction of the center point 24. This can result,for example, in a rectangular trapezium being formed from a trapezium bythe ropes and the bridge piece, that is open at the top, and on furtherrotation a trapezium that tapers towards the top is formed. Thus, thereis the potential for continuous adjustment of the trapezium that isformed by the ropes and the bridge piece, and for a continuous influenceon the oscillatory behaviour thereby. Thus the user can adapt theoscillatory behaviour according to his wishes and requirements throughan infinite range. When the ropes 11 are adjusted so as to be parallel,this will result in normal oscillatory behaviour. The oscillatorybehaviour will deviate from the normal case, depending on the degree ofvariation from the parallel position of the ropes 11 in one or the otherdirection.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. Furniture comprising asupport structure, two pairs of spaced ropes suspended from said supportstructure, a pair of generally parallel bridges, each of said bridgesbeing connected to one of said pairs of spaced ropes, an invertedU-shaped member having two spaced parallel legs and a cross-piece, eachof said legs having a lower end rigidly affixed to one of said bridges,said cross-piece extending generally perpendicular to said pair ofparallel bridges, rope means suspended from said cross-piece andextending between said spaced parallel legs, and a furniture structuresuspended from said rope means, said rope means comprises at least onerope which is shorter than each of the ropes of said two pairs of spacedropes.
 2. Furniture according to claim 1, wherein each of said bridgescomprises an elongate member having a longitudinal axis, saidcross-piece comprising an elongate member having a longitudinal axiswhich is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the elongate memberof said bridges.
 3. Furniture according to claim 1, wherein one of saidpairs of spaced ropes are disposed in a first plane and the other ofsaid pair of spaced ropes are disposed in a second plane, said first andsecond planes being parallel to one another, said cross-piece comprisingan elongate member having a longitudinal axis which is perpendicular tosaid first and second parallel planes.
 4. Furniture according to claim1, wherein each rope of said two pairs of spaced ropes are of equallength.
 5. Furniture according to claim 1, wherein each of said pairs ofspaced ropes have an unswung position, each of said ropes of said pairsof ropes being generally vertically disposed when in said unswungposition.
 6. Furniture according to claim 1, wherein each of said pairof spaced ropes have an unswung position, each of said ropes of said twopairs of ropes being disposed at an acute angle relative to verticalwhen in said unswung position.
 7. Furniture according to claim 6,wherein each rope of a pair of ropes converge towards one another as therespective bridge is approached when each of said pair of spaced ropesare in said unswung position.
 8. Furniture according to claim 1 furthercomprising beveled fittings mounted on each of said bridges, each ofsaid beveled fittings having an elongated passage having a longitudinalaxis, each of said ropes of said two pairs of spaced ropes passingthrough a central passage of one of said beveled fittings, each of saidelongated passages having a cross-sectional area which progressivelychanges along the longitudinal axis of the respective passage. 9.Furniture according to claim 8, wherein said cross-sectional area has acircular configuration.
 10. Furniture according to claim 8, wherein eachof said cross-sectional areas has an oval cross-sectional configuration.11. Furniture according to claim 8, wherein each of said passages has aninner passage wall, said inner passage wall having an arcuateconfiguration when viewed along a diametrical cutting plane whichcontains said longitudinal axis.
 12. Furniture according to claim 1,wherein said support structure have an upper support plate, said supportplate having linear slots, a disk overlying said upper support plate,rotatable support means rotatably supporting said disk on said supportstructure, said disk having an arcuate slot associated with each linearslot such that each arcuate slot partly overlies a part of an underlyingassociated linear slot, each rope of said two pairs of ropes extendingthrough associated arcuate and linear slots with each rope of said twopairs of ropes being supported by said disk such that rotation of saiddisk effects movement of each rope of said two pairs of ropes along saidlinear slots.
 13. Furniture according to claim 12, wherein said disk isrotatable about a central axis, said linear slots being disposed alongradii extending from said central axis.
 14. Furniture according to claim12, wherein said arcuate slots have a spiral configuration. 15.Furniture according to claim 12, wherein each rope of said two pairs ofropes has an upper end having an enlarged suspension head which overliessaid disk to suspend each rope of said two pairs of ropes from saiddisk.